The Albertville Mystery
by TheNextDahl
Summary: S6:E5 When Luke and his U.N.I.T. team visit an apparently haunted mansion, they discover the sick events that have happened over the last thirty six years...
1. Part One

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: THE ALBERTVILLE MYSTERY- PART ONE

Rafael Albertville died in a tragic car accident. His car collided with another's and his life was stolen in a colossal fireball. His private home, Albertville Estate, is believed to be haunted by Rafael's ghost, who seeks the treasure he'd hidden long ago. It is said that when the clock strikes midnight, a lightning bolt hit's the roof, whatever the weather, and awakens Albertville's ghost. He then peacefully walks around his home, checking things are in order. Then, when the clock strikes one, a scream is heard, and Albertville's ghost goes insane, tearing his belongings apart and leaving the house in a desolate mess.

Luke was on the computer in the attic, discovering all this information. It was research, as U.N.I.T. were to be sent into Albertville Manor to find the source of the daily distress. The research was of course assigned to Luke, as he was the one with the know-it-all extraterrestrial computer in his attic. Even though that same computer had recently tried to escape earth with his long-lost father. However, all was now well and everything was back to normal. The witnesses at the Pharos Institute's minds were wiped and the whole building was restored. It was just how it was left. Sarah Jane walked casually into the room.

"Visitors!"! She said. Behind her in the doorway appeared a beautiful blonde-haired girl, who smiled. He luscious lips were gorgeous in the sunlight, and her teeth were white as snow. She was wearing a pink summer dress. It was his girlfriend, Delilah, nicknamed Delly, who he worked with. Luke grinned stupidly, excited that she'd finally come to see him. Due to his busy work schedule, they hadn't seen each other in two weeks, but this was the time they could finally cherish together. Delly shuffled over to Luke, and Sarah Jane left him to it.

The next week, Luke and Delly, along with the rest of their quadrant sector, were approaching Albertville Manor in huge green Jeeps. It was ten to twelve. Soon the terror would begin. The troops stepped out one by one, and formed an orderly queue. They were led in sensibly, and began operations immediately. They waited until midnight. Silence consumed their chatter as the seconds slowly ticked, judgement drawing ever nearer. They all jumped in shock as the grandfather clock which they thought was broken suddenly chimed twelve times. There was an ear-splitting crack as the bolt of thunder struck the roof violently. There was footsteps coming from a far corridor. The soldiers, who were now armed, were informed to split up into pairs and search the building. Luke and Delly, naturally, went together. They headed up the grand staircase and turned left, fearing their discoveries. The whole mansion seemed to be preserved in cobwebs, the whole house was layered with them, which gave Delly an uneasy feeling. The corridor seemed to go on forever, until Luke got the shot of his life. A figure began to slowly emerge from one of the rooms. Luke quickly clutched Delly's hand and dragged her through a door and into a room. They sat on the bed and caught their breath, thinking they were safe. Thinking. Ever so slowly, the door handle began to turn. They froze in fear…

Delly scrambled around frantically. She dived under the bed, and Luke followed her. They watched the figure through a tiny gap under the bed. Their feet were odd. One was a shoe, black and tatty, however the other was a steel foot, and by the looks of it so was the leg it was housed on. A shiver shot through Delly's spine. Luke stared on in awe. The foot was definitely steel. Before Luke could get a closer look at any other features, the mysterious figure left the room. Delly let out a sigh of relief as they leaped up from under the bed.

"Follow him!" Luke whispered. He silently shuffled down the corridor, following the mysterious man. Luke could now clearly see his back. The foot was steel, the leg was steel, the torso was steel, the head was steel! The man was half-human, half-robot. He slowly staggered down the passage observantly. The clock chimed quickly. One o'clock. A scream pierced the mansion, echoing throughout the abandoned corridors. The figure ran, stumbling as fast as he could. He thrashed in and out doors, toppling over tables and other objects as he went. Delly, who had finally caught up with Luke, gasped in fear as the man went insane in a matter of seconds. She was petrified of what the consequences may be if they were caught. Still on his trail, they'd reached the entrance hall, where U.N.I.T. troops fired instantly. Only the figure had long run ahead by then, and they were instead firing at Luke and Delly…

Bullets flew through the air viciously, heading straight at the wrong people. Luckily in the nick of time, Luke dived behind the stair rail and narrowly missed three bullets sprinting his way. However, Delly wasn't so lucky. She was shot in the arm. She wailed fearfully as the pain struck her viciously. Luke kneeled beside her as she fell to the floor. Troops dashed up the stairs to help her. Luke was forced to leave as she was medically treated.

"Go and inform main office!" Lieutenant Granger commanded.

"But sir, I've left the walkie-talkie in the Jeep!" The troop, who was an amateur, replied sobbingly.

"Well get it man!" The Lieutenant demandingly shouted. Delly had been placed on a stretcher, and was being taken down the stairs. The amateur who was supposed to be retrieving the walkie-talkie, was clutching the door handle tightly, attempting to force it open, however it was immobile.

"GET IT OPEN YOU FOOL!" Lieutenant Granger boomed at him. "Sergeant Benton, you help him!" But Sergeant Benton wasn't listening, his attention was focused on the figures at the top of the stairs. So was everyone else's. The man Luke and Delly saw was in the centre, looking petrified indeed, and beside him were two metal men, tall and devious, looking slightly rotten, their black eyes transfixing and tear-shaped. Metal men, futuristic and deadly. Cybermen…


	2. Part Two

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: THE ALBERTVILLE MYSTERY- PART TWO

The U.N.I.T. Troops fired at Lieutenant Granger's command. However, the bullets were ineffective and the Cybermen stomped down the stairs in unison. The troops ran for the door, however the handle was still not moving. The paramedic troops holding Delly's stretcher dropped her and ran away in different directions. The whole U.N.I.T. squad was fleeing around the mansion. Luke shovelled Delly up from her stretcher and ran with her in his arms. One of the Cybermen went after him, however, and he had to change course very quickly. His heels screeched as he spun round, heading right as the chaos wailed on. There were more Cybermen now, they were coming from what seemed like nowhere. Luke reached yet another corridor with rows of doors. Then he discovered where they were coming from. Simultaneously, each door opened and a Cyberman emerged. Delly screamed. Luke turned around, preparing to turn back, however there were more Cybermen there too now, blocking his way. Delly's arm was running out of blood to leak, and the colour started draining from her face. The Cybermen closed in, now wielding small laser guns on their forearms. The realisation hit Luke. They were cornered, there was no escape now.

Lieutenant Granger had armed himself with an abandoned bazooka and blasted the front doors from their hinges. He sprinted over to the jeeps, climbed in and prepared to evacuate. They were all rookie troops, nobody needed them, he thought as he drove off down the road. But wait, he thought, there was someone else, someone precious that U.N.I.T. couldn't afford to lose. Luke Smith. He turned the car around and began trying to think where he had fled to, but all he knew was that he'd run down the right-hand corridor. He drove down the path and prepared to get out and go through the doors, however the entrance hall was now swarming with Cyberman, so he reversed, and drove full speed. Right at the right-hand wall…

The jeep demolished the wall completely, and hit a few Cybermen as it destroyed the building around them. Luke saw the U.N.I.T. emblem on the jeep and immediately pounded in, Delly still in his arms.

"Quickly! The ceilings going to collapse, the whole building will come down on us!" Lieutenant Granger exclaimed in desperation. The doors closed and the jeep attempted to reverse, however there was a Cyberman's body trapped under the wheel.

"We're trapped!" Lieutenant Granger screamed. The roof above the car creaked. Luke could hear the wood supporting the ceiling snapping and breaking away. Delly screeched as the roof caved in. Plaster and floorboards came pouring to the ground, hitting both the car and the remaining living Cybermen. The window screen of the car plunged in, shattering chunks of glass all over the car. Luke scrambled across the seats and tried to open the door. He couldn't open it with his hands so he kicked it open and picked up an unconscious Delly and followed the now retreating Cybermen. Luke left Delly in the entrance hall and followed the Cybermen. He panted as they sped away at unbelievable speeds, nevertheless he kept up with them. They eventually led him through a door, where he was greeted by no other than the figure from the corridor.

"So, Luke, I see you fell into my trap…" He cackled.

Luke awoke tied to a tabled which was angled upwards. He was facing the man now, whom was distorted and sick. He was half human, half robot, completely it seemed. He gave a sick grin.

"Now, let me begin!" He announced grimly. "I am Rafael Albertville. I was fatally injured in my car accident, my body was halved viciously by a blade of glass which shot from my window screen. The Cybermen rescued me, built me back up, and we returned to my home! This is now our lair and we hunt the treasure I hid years ago! Now go, my masters, go and find the other .T. officers, bring them, we shall have a goodbye ceremony before we blow this place sky high!" He let out a maniacal laugh as the Cybermen disappeared. He turned to Luke, his face now twisted in frantic fear.

"Luke! You have to help me! They've enslaved me! They've crashed here, and they need my treasure to get home! The lighting bolt at midnight, that's no lightning bolt, it's an attempt at a signal to their Cyber fleet, to be rescued! Every night they throw me out into the manor to find the treasure, and I always look for an excuse not to work, so I stroll around instead of looking. But then, they do it. I hear the horrific screams of my lover. My wife. Tonight is the night, you need not do anything but fight with me, because I'm planning to detonate the manor, now the Cybermen think I mean the main manor, but I'm destroying it all, no survivors. But I need the detonator!" He hurried breathlessly, untying Luke.

"What is the detonator?" Luke inquired.

"My treasure!" A stunned Rafael replied.

Minutes later, they emerged at the grand staircase once again.

"Right, you know the plan, don't you Luke? Just stop the Cybermen reaching me and I'll get the detonator, then I'll shout 'Run!' and you get all the troops out, then after five minutes, I blow this place to hell!" He commanded. Luke nodded. Rafael went tumbling up the stairs and up more. Luke could hear his footprints just above.

"IT'S GONE!" He heard a troubled voice scream. Luke fumbled up the staircase, hearing crashes and thumps. He threw the door open to see Rafael, held by the Cybermen, who had the detonator. Luke ripped the curtain pole from above the door and swung it like an assassin's sword. He flung it through the Cyberman's stomach, leaving it defenceless. He did the same to all of them, until it was just him and Rafael left.

"Thank you Luke, you set me free. Thirty six years I've lived this hell, now I can finally die." He whispered, lay on the floor.

"You don't have to! Detonate it outside!" Luke begged, frightened.

"No, Luke. The world already thinks I'm dead, and it's time for me to go now." He closed his eyes. "Two minutes Luke." He clutched the detonator tightly in his hands, knowing that death was near.

Luke pounded out of the main doors just in time to see the building fly sky high. All of U.N.I.T. had already evacuated, and Delly had regained consciousness.

"It's okay, Luke." She reassured him as she put her arm on his shoulder and they watched the building burn. But Luke knew, somewhere deep down, that it was just the beginning…


End file.
